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Ragnarok Online
|image = File:RO_logo.png |imagewidth = 300 |Row 1 title = Developer(s) |Row 1 info = GRAVITY Co., Ltd. |Row 2 title = Publisher(s) |Row 2 info = GRAVITY Co., Ltd. |Row 3 title = Series |Row 3 info = Ragnarök compilation |Row 4 title = Engine |Row 4 info = AEGIS |Row 5 title = Version |Row 5 info = Episode 15.1 (South Korea) |Row 6 title = Platform(s) |Row 6 info = Microsoft Windows |Row 7 title = Release Date(s) |Row 7 info = 31 August 2002 (South Korea) |Row 8 title = Genre(s) |Row 8 info = MMORPG |Row 9 title = Media/Distribution |Row 9 info = Download CD }} (Korean: 라그나로크 온라인, alternatively subtitled The Final Destiny of the Gods), often referred to as RO, is a Korean massive multiplayer online role-playing game or MMORPG created by GRAVITY Co., Ltd. based on the manhwa Ragnarök by Lee Myung-jin. It was first released in South Korea on 31 August 2002 for Microsoft Windows and has since been released in many other locales around the world. The game has spawned an animated series, Ragnarök the Animation, and a sequel game, Ragnarok Online 2: Legend of the Second, is in development. Features Player characters exist in a world with a player environment that gradually changes with the passage of time. Player characters interact in a 3D environment but are represented by 2D character sprites for front, back, side and diagonal facings. The major types of server-supported gameplay are Player vs Environment, Guild vs Guild, Player vs Player. Also supported by the game server are Group vs Group, Arena Combat, Player vs Monster, Player vs All, and various other specific scenarios at designated instance locations in the game world. NPC-run challenges and contests are also available with prizes, awards, and/or listing in a specific hall of fame listing. See List of Unimplemented RO Features Story In a time of strife between God, Normans, and demons... Scarred during the gruesome war and avoiding total destruction altogether, God, Normans, and demons manage to enter into a truce... But after 1,000 years of fragile and forged peace in Rune-Midgarts... The lengthy peace eventually led the Normans to forget their memories of the scars and hardship from the war. As they forgot faults of the past, selfishness, corruption, and arrogance slowly spread throughout the land... Finally, the balance of peace broke and strange occurrences started happening. There came a strange howl from the boundaries that divided God, Normans, and demons. Peaceful creatures became aggressive and attacked innocent villagers. Violent earthquakes ripped whole continents apart. Great hail storms drove some species to the brink of extinction... The mysterious legend of demons was rediscovered... As the fragile peace began to fall apart, stories about the parts of Ymir protecting the peace began to spread among the adventurers. Forgetting the true nature of the ancient relics, people set out to seek the pieces out of selfishness and the promise of wealth that would come with it... List of Episodes See List of Episode Updates (RO) Major changes in the features and history of the world take place as Episodes in the RO timeline. Cards Unique to Ragnarok Online is the carding system that allows players to bind cards with special stats to weapons and armor to further enhance their characters. Almost every monster in the game has a corresponding card with its own set of effects. Ragnarok Mobile In 2008, Gravity Co. Ltd. released Ragnarok Mobile, a cell phone game that lets players play a mini version of RO and upload their Zeny earnings to their RO accounts. Players can choose from several versions of the game to play: Swordsman, Mage, Thief, Archer, and Merchant. Controversy Towards the end of the closed beta testing for the original Korean servers of RO (kRO), it was announced that the game will be released as a subscription-based game, much like many other MMORPGs in 2002. Some of the beta testers became upset at the news and their sense of immature entitlement to free gaming led to numerous hacks on the RO servers.Ragnarok Wisdom Soapbox 2004 Oct. The hacks crippled the game so much so that Gravity Co. pretty much went bankrupt. In an effort to save the company, Samsung Electronics offers to buy them out. To watch over their new investment, Samsung appointed a manager to oversee development on RO. Unfortunately this manager began going on a power trip, wanting to reshape the game into his own idea. This caused many of the original developers and the lead designer of the game to quit mid-development in rebellion.Neoseeker Forums 2002 Oct.AEGIS Article 2013 Mar. As such, many of the original concepts for RO were never fully implemented into the game. In addition, the game constantly suffers from terrible lag, bugs, and errors due to the unfinished coding left by the original developers. Instead of rebuilding the code from the ground up with the newer development team, Gravity Co. decides to push forward by building on the unfinished coding, resulting in unpolished and unsatisfactory gameplay for millions of players for more than 10 years. These problems continue to exist to this day, even after the implementation of the Renewal update. Opening Cinematic In the early days of Ragnarok Online, an opening video would start up when a player launches the game. It would appear before the login screen. For some reason, the video was removed from the game later on and it is unknown why, although it could be attributed to players wanting to log in quickly and not have to sit through the opening. That would also mean that there was no option to skip the opening whenever the game launched. Official Ragnarok Online Servers In the wake of RO's troubled beginnings, many private (illegal) servers came about. These private servers in no way support the official servers and have caused Gravity developers to lose money from players who financially support private servers over the official servers. Active Official Servers To help support the longevity of RO and its developers, here is a list of official servers players should play on: *Official Korea (kRO) *Official Japan (jRO) *Official USA International (iRO) *Official Taiwan & Hong Kong (twRO) *Official China (cRO) *Official Thailand (thRO) *Official Philipines (pRO) *Official Europe (euRO) *Official Brazil (bRO) *Official Indonesia (idRO) *Official Russia (ruRO) Inactive Official Servers This is a list of official servers that have ceased operation. Only oRO had its player data merged with the iRO server. *Official Oceania (oRO) - These servers shut down in March of 2007. They supported both the New Zealand and Australia regions. Players of oRO were given the option to transfer over to iRO. *Official Middle East-North Africa (aeRO/aRO) - Shut down around 2008/2009. It reopened in 2009, but closed for good in February of 2013. *Official Vietnam (vRO) - These servers closed down in 2007 because not enough restrictions were placed for RMT (real money trade). It reopened in 2008 and then shut down for good in 2011. *Official Spain-South America (hispanoRO/ROh) - Unknown as to when they shut down. *Official India (inRO) - Shut down in August of 2008. iRO services expanded to the India region in response.iRO Wiki 2013 May 1 *Official Malaysia & Singapore (mRO) - Their contract with Gravity ended and the server did not make enough profit to renew the contract. Shut down 2013 October 31. Player data cannot be transferred to iRO, but iRO will now be open to the mRO region.mRO Site Notice 2013 Oct. 10iRO Website 2013 Nov. References External Links *[http://www.ragnarokonline.com/ Ragnarök Online Official Site] *[http://www.gamefaqs.com/561051 Ragnarök Online] at GameFAQs *[http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/ragnarokonline Ragnarök Online] at Metacritic *[http://www.mobygames.com/game/ragnark-online Ragnarök Online] at MobyGames *[http://iro.ragnarokonline.com/mobile/intro.asp Ragnarok Mobile] (North American site) ja:ラグナロクオンライン de:Ragnarök Onlinept:Ragnarok Online Category:Licensed Media